VCR Maintenance and Educational Publishing
Plot Anthony, Annie, Abed and Rachel begin to play Pile of Bullets but find it incredibly confusing. Anthony and Rachel are ready to give up but are pressured into continuing. Annie and Abed soon figure out the rules and play with an intensity matched by Rachel and Anthony's indifference. The game reaches its conclusion with no winner so Abed and Annie want to start the game over, much to the dismay of Rachel and Anthony. Rachel thinks that Abed is having an antisocial episode so she starts to leave but Abed reveals that he wants her to move in. Annie counters that Anthony might move in instead. Abed continues to explain that they are playing Pile of Bullets to decide who gets to join them in the apartment. Rachel is furious at being kept in the dark about their plans and storms out. After talking on the phone with the potential buyer, Britta tells the others that her contact want to meet with her to set a price and prepare for the exchange. Trying to divide the group, Jeff and Chang question whether or not Britta can be trusted to make the deal alone. Shirley and Hickey join the argument before Britta suggests they all calm down and discuss things rationally. Suddenly, Britta and Hickey find themselves tied up next to Jeff and Chang, leaving Shirley to deal with Britta's contact. The next day, Annie finds Anthony packing his things up to leave earlier than expected. He explains that there are too many unresolved issues for him to stay. Annie confesses that she wanted him to move in partly because it would validate her decisions amid the family chaos following her pill addiction. Anthony responds that he was talking about the void left in the apartment by the black guy he sees in the photographs all over the walls. Back at Greendale, Abed approaches Rachel to apologize. He tells her that he had been trying to accelerate their relationship because he was worried that he was going to mess it up and Annie would help him avoid making mistakes. Rachel replies that if he doesn't manipulate or lie then she'll keep trying to make their relationship work. Shirley meets with Britta's buyer but he tells her that the books are worthless because they are misprints: none of the pages are numbered. She returns to the storage room to untie the others. In the study room, Annie and Abed acknowledge that Troy helped keep things peaceful around their apartment and they need to find a way to deal with that. They wonder if they could find some kind of live-in therapist just as Britta enters. They decide to try Craigslist instead. When Hickey, Shirley and Jeff arrive Annie notices that they haven't changed clothes since yesterday. Hickey just says that they've “been through some stuff” and don't want to discuss it. Outside in the library, Pelton tries to write some rap lyrics but is unable to recapture his rhythmic flow. End tag In a flashback to 1993, the actor from "Pile of Bullets" receives a call in his apartment offering him the part in the old west game. He is less than enthused about it but his wife convinces him to give up his job at Apple Computer to take the part because she believes VCR games are the next big thing. Recurring themes Continuity *'Previously:' **Abed tells Jeff that Rachel knows Jeff's Netflix password. Troy and Abed admitted to using Jeff's account in "Cooperative Polygraphy". **Numerous photographs are seen in the apartment referencing Troy and Abed's past adventures. **Abed doesn't want to flip a coin to choose a roommate because "coins create parallel timelines," a reference to the Season Three episode "Remedial Chaos Theory". *'Replay': Britta tries to deliver her "Everybody!" line like Annie did in "Analysis of Cork-Based Networking" but she Brittas it. *'Familiar faces': **"Breaking Bad" creator Vince Gilligan makes his onscreen debut as an actor in this episode as "Devon", the cowboy host of "Pile of Bullets". **Singer/song writer and actor Paul Williams makes a cameo as the buyer interested in the textbooks. **Actress Gina Gershon cameos on the episode end tag as the wife of Devon. **Dan Harmon's personal assistant Spencer Crittenden, who is well known to fans of Harmon's podcast "Harmontown", appears in this episode as Annie's brother Anthony. *'History lesson': Annie mentions that she is still hurt by her mother turning her back on her when she decided to go to rehab. She also mentions how she somewhat held a grudge against her brother Anthony for taking their mother's side in the disagreement (even though he was only 13). *'Returning students': **Rachel returns in this episode. **Pavel Iwaszkiewicz returns to help Abed win back Rachel. *'Googly eyes': Abed is currently in a relationship with Rachel. *'School supplies': **A pair of "Chimpan-Zzz's" canisters can clearly be seen in the background of the storage room the Committee is cleaning. The gas containers were last seen in the Season Three episode "History 101" **Abed and Annie cook buttered noodles for Rachel and Anthony. They seem to be Abed's favorite food, and he also cooked them in Season Three's "Virtual Systems Analysis" (plus Annie is seen standing in front of a Buttered Noodle vending machine), and they are referenced in "Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism". In Season Four's "Cooperative Escapism in Familial Relations," they would have been Abed's food of choice on Thanksgiving, and in Season Four's "Intro to Knots," Abed received a large box of buttered noodles for Christmas. *'A nice gesture': Annie and Abed's secret handshake reappears in this episode; it was last seen in the Season One episode "Pascal's Triangle Revisited". *'Mad skillz': Dean Pelton demonstrates some untapped rapping skills (See article "Payday Apology Rap"). *'This must be the place': Group Study Room F, Annie and Abed's apartment, and the East Hall storage room appear in this episode. Running gags *'Awww!:' Annie and Shirley coo repeatedly about Rachel and Abed, whom Jeff refers to as the Awww Couple. *'Nice outfit': Dean Pelton dresses up like a Payday candy bar to deliver a rap apology. Pop culture references *'Shout out': President Barack Obama is mentioned in a rap by Dean Pelton. *'Nerd Alert!': Luke Skywalker is mentioned by Devon's wife in the episode end tag. *'Product placement': Online classified advertisement website Craigslist is mentioned by Annie and Abed. Meta references *'Use your allusion:' **Jeff calls Rachel and Abed "the Aww couple", a reference to The Odd Couple, most likely the 1968 film. **The Dean composing a rap on his hand can be seen as an allusion to the 2002 Eminem film "8 Mile" *'Résumé:' Vince Gilligan, who plays the wild west character in Pile of Bullets, is the creator of Breaking Bad. Several other Breaking Bad characters have appeared on Community including Johnathan Banks (Professor Buzz Hickey on Community) who played ex-cop turned hitman "Mike Ehrmantraut" on the show for several seasons. *'Background check': On the dry eraser board behind Annie and Shirley in the study room a riddle is written. If 7/a + 14/l + 21/e + 28/d = Sumtotal 34/S What word am I? If You Guessed "Fourteen" You'r Wrong. Play again - Ask Your friends with Words to Help Clue: No fractions were used Clue 2: pop pop Production Gallery Episode clip Behind the scenes photos 5X8_Promo_pic_Cowboy.jpg 5X8_Promo_pic_1.jpg 5X8_Promo_pic_2.jpg.jpg 5X8_Promo_pic_3.jpg.jpg 5X8_Promo_pic_4.jpg 5X8_Promo_pic_5.jpg 5X8_Promopic6.jpg 5X8_Promopic7.jpg 5X8_Promopic8.jpg 5X8_Promopic9.jpg 5X8_Promopic10.jpg 5X8_Promopic11.jpg 5X9 BTS pic 1.jpg 5X9 BTS pic 2.jpg 5X9 BTS pic 3.jpg 5X9 BTS pic 4.jpg 5X9 BTS pic 5.jpg 5X9 BTS pic 6.jpg 5X9 BTS pic 7.jpg 5X9 BTS pic 8.jpg 5X9 BTS pic 9.jpg 5X9 BTS pic 10.jpg Category:Community Episodes Category:Season 5 Episodes